In September, we read
Love by Roddy Doyle. This was my choice and I had already read it when I proposed this novel. I read Paddy Clark Ha Ha Ha a number of years ago and there is just something about Roddy' Doyle's Irish pub drinking conversations between men that strikes a chord with my Irish/English ethnicity and my childhood culture surrounded by beer drinking men having stilted conversations that seemed so meaningful to them, yet confusing to me as a spectator. Some of our group liked the novel and thought it a good rendition of how some men talk about their feelings with other men (albeit under the influence of many pints!) While others found it tedious and did not see the point. Alan aptly described the two main character's relatedness as being witnesses to one another from early adulthood to the present as they reconnect in their 60's. One man has recently left his wife and family for a woman he was attracted to at 19, while the other man is caring for his father who is dying. They recount their lives to one another over countless pints and then sit with one another thought a parental death. In the
NY Times Review , the review is entitled: The Language of Friendship as Heard in a Dublin Pub. I think that says it!
In October, we are reading The Vanishing Half by Britt Bennett. We will meet via Zoom on October 22nd at 7 PM
